Ticking Clocks
by Moki
Summary: Things are getting warmed up in Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry! Voldermort treads on holy grounds... New Chapter uploaded finally! R&R please!
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own or in any way take credit for the wonderful world of Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is much more creative than I ^_^. So before you decide to have a heart attack about the names I use in this and suing me for all I'm worth, I'll remember that I wrote a disclaimer to save my ass, dammit. While I'm on a roll, I'd like to express my thanks to Athena who helped me out when I got stuck with some ingenius ideas and to Anne for helping me post this piece of.... well... whatever it is. Thank you and enjoy.  
  
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Ticking Clocks  
  
It was raining fairly hard that day on Platform 9 3/4. All of the wizarding children were buzzing with excitment as their families helped them with their luggage for another year at the renouned Hogwarts Wizarding School. A lot had happened there within the past five years... since a very famous boy arrived. The boy that lived. It was no longer such big news that the one who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at such a young age was attending Hogwarts, but he was still letting himself be known by his heroism and bravery. Aislynn Stellar had heard about much of his accomplishments through a few friends she had in high places and looking back on it, she smiled a little sadly. He had to go through so much... all because of who he was. However, she had also heard that he had very supporting and kind friends behind him 110 percent of the way.  
The bright red Hogwarts Express was soon steaming and rocketing quickly to it's destination. Not many students had noticed Aislynn which, she supposed, was a good thing. Some were whispering about a strange young woman that wore a cloak that faded from white to emerald green. Aislynn was a healthy 5' 6 with long wavy dark brown hair and curves on her slender body in all the right places. She thought about what people were whispering and merely let it slide off her shoulders as she sat in an empty compartment, watching the colorful trees whizz by. They seemed distorted slightly by the rain bands on the windows. Her thoughts ran through her head just as quickly as the scenery. It had been a long summer, she recalled lazily. Her memories consumed her of the few months that had passed by so slowly,  
"What am I supposed to do about it, exactly?"  
"Just humor me, Ais... It's considered to be a red warning at the moment. As soon as it calms down then you can go back to your normal life," a young lined face stared at her pleadingly. She remembered him not looking quite so old.  
"It's not my style to lurk around every corner, watching adolecents every moves. It's very medieval, Remus... it really is. Why not just explain things to the whole student body? They aren't stupid and, well, they aren't going to be too shocked by the fact that Voldermort is back. It's old news now. Besides, the school is protected. Dumbledore has made sure of that." Aislynn tossed her dark, long hair back and turned on her toes to walk to the large window and stare outside, contemplating her options quietly.  
"That's not what we're saying. It would be a lot safer if we had more protection inside the building. Parents are getting quite antsy at the thought that the Dark Lord is back and they want to make sure that it will be safe for them. A few students have all ready been kept back at their homes just to be safe. We want to be sure that the parents and children feel safe. Please, Aislynn... I'll be in back and forth throughout the year, so you won't be totally alone." He sat down in an overstuffed blue armchair and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his index and thumb.  
"All right, all right..." She tilted her head back with a groan and placed her hands on the small of her back. "I'll do it. I can't stand it when you look like that. I'll get a few breaks at Hogsmeade, right? And I'll be getting paid out of this deal...?"  
He nodded slowly.  
She glanced over him. He looked as though he had walked in from seven years on the hard streets of New York. His robes were tattered and somewhat dirty, his eyes looked tired and weary, his face was lined long before it's time and his hair was somewhat messy.  
"You'll stay with me tonight, Remus. You look so...." She grinned a little, "hungry and malnourished."  
He tried to smile but it turned out to be more of a grimace, "thanks. I didn't know that we were holding a beauty contest tonight."  
"Look, I didn't mean to offend you. But I think I'll get you some new robes for Christmas this year, so you'll have to come with me to Diagon Alley to get fitted for one."  
Aislynn watched his face go red and he turned his eyes to the carpeted floor.  
"Remus... If you needed someplace to stay, why didn't you just come to me?"  
"I had a place to stay for a while. In any case, I didn't know you were still around England. Thought perhaps that you had gone back to Ireland." He sighed. She could tell that he was remenising about the past. About his lost friend. She looked down too and heaved a great sigh.  
"Well, breakfast is at seven-ish. I'll expect you down around then, hmm?" She looked up and offered a comforting smile and headed towards the stairs.  
"Certainly. And Aislynn... Thank you."  
She smiled and nodded, then went up to bed only to toss and turn that night......  
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door to the compartment opening suddenly and she glanced up, surprised.  
"Er... sorry, we thought this one was empty." A girl with wild curly hair, dressed in her robes all ready looked just as surprised as Aislynn.  
She offered a smile and lifted her hand to welcome them in. "Please, there's plenty of room... I'm not too greedy." The five sat down. She recognized Harry Potter right away but refused to stare at him, she was sure he got to that all too often.  
"My name is Aislynn... It's a pleasure to meet you all." She went across, shaking their hands firmly with a kind smile.  
"Ah. I thought you two were Weasley's. The handsome red hair gives you away," she winked and laughed. "Hermoine Granger, pleasure. I've heard much about your academic achievements, you've made a few Professors make a run for their money."  
"Neville Longbottom, how do you do? Lovely toad... you must take good care of him." She smiled. "And Harry Potter... yes indeed. I'm honored to meet you." They all seemed a little taken aback by her friendliness. She guessed that maybe she talked too quickly, it happened when she was with people in an tightly enclosed space. A few tense moments passed by before the plump woman with the food trolly came by and opened the compartment door with a warm smile.  
"Ah, perfect... Oh, no, don't worry about it. I'll get it. We'll take everything, big lot we have, you know." Aislynn dug around in her money pouch and gave her quite a few Galleons. "Cheers," she said happily as the cart went off. They all sort of stared at her for a while, she blinked and reached for a chocolate frog.  
"Well, dig in... I can't eat all of this by myself. I'd lose my girlish figure." She grinned and bit off the leg of the chocolate frog happily. After that, the time passed by smoothly and with a very friendly atmosphere. They chatted about their summers and what was to be expected this year. Hermoine was once again a Prefect, Harry was welcome back to the Quidditch matches with Ron as the Keeper. Ginny, too, was on the Gryffindor team. Neville was hoping to grow a few magical plants this year.  
"Are you supposed to be an exchange student, Aislynn?" Ginny watched her and helped herself to Pumpkin cookie.  
"Oh, no," she laughed heartily. "I wish I were back at Hogwarts as a student. I'm a little old for that now, however. No, I'm going to be a Professor of sorts. I'll also be hanging around Gryffindor Tower."  
"Of sorts," Hermoine asked with a hint of suspision in her voice.  
"Well, I won't be teaching full-time. Maybe two classes per week, if that." She removed her flowing cloak and folded it up nicely. She got into her briefcase and pulled out white robes with dark purple trimmings and slipped it on. "Ah, that's better."  
"Those are interesting robes. Almost as interesting as your cloak." Harry spoke with a grin.  
"Yeah... I can't stick with just one color and black doesn't suit me one bit," she laughed a little and put her cloak into her briefcase. The others besides Hermoine followed Aislynns lead and put on their black robes and soon after the train came to a slow and comfortable stop. When the crowd that was in the compartment piled out, the heavy rains had been reduced to a light drizzle though the clouds still looked threating to pour the rain down in sheets again.  
Rubeus Hagrid held up a huge lantern, letting his voice thunder out to all of the first years. Harry and the rest smiled and waved excitedly to him, while other students gave him a glare. Aislynn was sure that he wouldn't remember her but she waved to him with a bright smile.  
"All righ', there, Harry?" He waved the great lantern in greeting.  
They all made a mad dash to the carriages pulled by Thesrals, strange but oddly beautiful beasts with large wings, and bodys of a black horse. Settling back, Aislynn leaned to the side to take a peek at the beautiful castle scaling the horizon. It comforted her in a way, to see it coming closer and closer with the warmly lit windows. They piled out once more and Aislynn said her farewells for now then headed up to the Staff's Table for the Welcoming Feast while the rest of the students milled in through the large doors, leading to the Great Hall where candles floated in mid-air.  
She was greeted by several familiar faces. Dumbledore's was most welcoming, it looked as though his beard had grown whiter and longer over the years, she hugged him despite all who were watching. Severus Snape shot a venomous glare, she laughed a little, gave a cute four-fingered wave and winked. He sneered slightly and sat down. She turned to Sibyll Trelawney and gave her an air-kiss on each cheek then sat down at her designated seat next to Snape. She could almost feel the hatred eminating off him. She noticed that a new teacher was there who resembled a centaur... Rubeus Hagrid had just sat down and Minerva McGonagall stood next to the hat with a scroll in her hands. Dumbledore stood and made an opening speech,  
"This year, we have made a few changes in your schedules which you should have recieved over the summer holiday. Welcome, everyone, to another year at Hogwarts School. As always, Mr. Filch has warned students that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to everyone as are a number of new items posted on his office door. The ritual of the Sorting Hat can please begin with Professor McGonagall," he presented the school to McGonagall and she began to read off the parchment after the Sorting Hat sung it's tale of Hogwarts beginnings and to be weary this year. After the students had settled down Dumbledore spoke again.  
"I welcome everyone again. Oh! And one more thing: Fluffy clouds. Ointment. Yellow Dingberries and tapestries. Without further ado, let us eat." He waved a hand after speaking sagely and as he did so, dishes of all assortments of foods appeared.  
Aislynn could have sworn she heard Hagrid mumble, "great man, Dumbledore..."  
"Hear, hear!" A few students shouted and the chattering of students as they began to stuff themselves silly. Aislynn helped herself to a thigh and breast of chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and yorkshire pudding.  
"What are you doing here?" Snape almost spat acidly.  
"That's hardly your concern at the moment... look, your food is getting cold." She shoveled a spoonful of mashed potatoes in her mouth and drank her pumpkin juice happily.  
"I thought I had gotten rid of you all those years ago," he eyed her wearily.  
"Oh come now. You make me sound as if I'm older than... well, Dumbledore."  
"I won't allow you to teach here, Stellar! You are not qualified!"  
"That is not your decision to make, Severus," she glanced at him with peircing hazel-green eyes. "You can't tell me that you're still sour about school years... That was a while ago. Besides, I hear that you've done really well for yourself as of late." She bit off some meat from the thigh bone.  
He grit his teeth and after a moment of steaming, he began to eat. She noticed that Harry and his gang were glancing up at the table, she smiled and waved. After dessert, the students milled back out of the Great Hall to their houses. Aislynn stayed in her seat, staring up at the bewitched ceiling fondly. She sighed and pulled back her hair with an elastic that was around her wrist. Albus Dumbledore approached her with a small smile.  
"Aislynn Ingrid Stellar... How nice it is to see you."  
She stood up and gave him a brief hug, "as it is you, Albus.."  
"You do know why you are here and your duties that you have brought with you?" He looked at her from above his half moon spectecals gravely.  
She nodded, a few strands of hair falling into her face.  
"Wonderful. I am trusting you with my students, Aislynn... please take good care of them. Severus will show you to your quarters and classroom." He put a soft hand to her back to guide her to Snapes ridgid figure.  
"Thank you, Dumbledore. I'll do my very best," she smiled to him and turned to Snape. "Lead the way, you handsome fox, you." She laughed a little and walked beside him, slipping her hand around his arm.  
"Please remove your hand from my arm," he growled a little and looked down at her hand.  
"It's proper manners to escort a lady to her house after dinner. Besides... I don't think you mind the attention." She smiled lightly and looked up at him, slipping her hand away. "You really need to lighten up, Severus... you'll get an ulcer if you keep up this dreary mood."  
"You'll forgive me for not bending over backwards and kissing your hand with glee," he shot back icily.  
She stiffened and kept quiet after that. She nodded in her silent thanks that he lead her to her quarters and shut the door behind her. Peeves was bringing the chalk down her board in a most irritating way that made her shiver.  
"Peeves... How good to hear you again. Would you mind creating havoc someone else's room?"  
He dropped the chalk and blew a raspberry at her, floating out of her classroom. She sighed and put her cloak up on the coat stand and went into her office, climbing the stairs to her living quarters. Everything was in it's place, the enchanted fire place was crackling warmly and the bed looked more inviting than her own at home. She flopped down in bed, not bothering to cover herself up and drifted to sleep after setting her alarm for very early. It had been a very long day indeed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Well, that's the first chapter. Please write to me and tell me what you think about it. 


	2. Ticking Clocks 2

Disclaimer: I do not own or in any way take credit for the wonderful world of Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is much more creative than I ^_^. So before you decide to have a heart attack about the names I use in this and suing me for all I'm worth, I'll remember that I wrote a disclaimer to save my ass, dammit. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
That morning Aislynn's loud alarm clock, which looked very similar to a huge mouth, woke her with it's incesent screaming. Her eyes flew open and her hand immediately slammed it shut with a groan. Slowly... pain-stakingly she rose from the fluffy bed, rubbing her eyes lightly to focus better.  
"I'm really not cut out for this morning bit," she muttered to herself as she streched like a cat. With a glance out her window she could determine that the sun still hadn't risen. A fine blanket of mist still covered the school grounds. She hadn't set up a lesson yet, but she had a good idea of what she wanted to teach the students. From the corner of her room, she heard a soft clacking of a beak and turned to find that a pretty barn owl had fallen asleep on her chair, perched on the wooden arm. She smiled a little and walked over quietly, waving an owl pellet to coax it awake.  
"Good morning. Did you sleep well? What have you got for me?" She fed him the pellet and took the small parchment scroll and read over it swiftly. It was her schedule that was supposed to have arrived earlier than that day, but.. unfortunately, the poor feathered creature had grown weary of waiting. She thanked him and let him stick around with some water and more pellets before he went up to the owlery. With a rude, loud yawn, Aislynn got dressed and pulled her hair into a loose bun then made her way down to her classroom to write the lesson on the chalkboard.  
Professor Ais.  
Welcome to Miscellaneous/Ettiquette Lessons, where you'll be learning off-the-wall information but perhaps it will be of use later.  
"I'm in big trouble if all of my lessons start off with what sounds like apologies," she shook her head and put the peice of chalk down.  
"Do you always talk to yourself, Professor Ais?" A familiar voice spoke clearly and with some bemusement in his voice.  
"Remus? What are you doing here," she asked and stopped herself with a laugh and approached him to give a quick embrace. "I'm sorry. I mean, it's good to see you. Do you want a cup of tea?"  
He lifted his hands but didn't embrace her back, he cleared his throat as she stepped back. "Er, no, thank you. As a matter of fact, I came to wish you good luck on your first lesson. I hope you don't mind, but I'll be by for one of your classes. It's the time when I have preperation."  
"Not at all," she smiled brightly. "I think I'll enjoy your company, it's nice to have a friend around... Those robes look great on you, by the way! They turned out to be just your color too." She put a hand on her hip and took a good look at him. He didn't look quite so hungry either...  
"Yes. Thank you again. I don't know how to repay you for your generosity and kindness. About all I've done is kept your home in good shape," he turned his eyes to the ground and placed his hands behind his back.  
"Remus... anything for a dear friend. I don't want any sort of payment from you." She touched his arm and grabbed his attention by leaning down and locking eyes with him then stood up straight again. "All I need is you." She smiled and kissed his cheek softly.  
He turned red in the cheeks, and for a moment he had his young boyish looks back. He cleared his throat again, trying to contain a huge grin, "I really should get back to my classroom. I'll see you for breakfast." He turned on his heel, eyes still toward the floor and left her room in a hurry. She watched as the hem of his robes whipped out of sight and stood dumbfounded for a moment with her head quirked to the side.  
"Odd man..." She murmmered and got her desk ready for the day. After she was satisfied with the work, she headed down to the Great Hall for a hearty breakfast.  
There was an atmosphere of great excitment and apprehension in the air with wiff of a mixture of french toast and syrup. Many students had all ready made their way to their benches and were eating merrily and striking up conversations with their friends animatedly. She too found her seat and helped herself to a few links of small sausage, hash browns, scrambled eggs and a nice cold glass of orange juice. Snape was half way through his breakfast when she finally sat down. She could tell that he had maybe just lost his appetite because he had suddenly stopped eating.  
"Not a morning person, are we, Stellar?" He narrowed his eyes slightly.  
"Just as much as you are a ray of sunshine bottled up, Snape," she grinned at him and took a sip of her orange juice. "Don't look at me as though I've just insulted your family honor. You started it. And I'd appreciate it if you'd stop making snide remarks every time I see you because to be honest with you, it gets tiring keeping my guard up around you. So lighten up, once and a while." Aislynn spoke simply and softly.  
He tossed his napkin to his plate and stood up nonchalantly then walked out of the Great Hall. She shook her head slightly. Lupin tapped her shoulder and smiled at her while walking by to take his seat. She smiled back and glanced down to waved down to a very tired Ron. A little while passed and the Great Hall became more and more empty when Aislynn had decided to get up and take her seat at her desk. The first bell had rung and her classroom was filled with some Gryffindors and Slytherins. She was very pleased to see that Harry and his four friends had made it to the class. They waited, sitting at attention with quills and parchment ready as she stood up.  
"Well, good morning everyone and welcome to my classroom. I suppose I should introduce myself, I'm Aislynn Stellar but you can call me Professor Ais. This year I'll be teaching a few lessons about different cultures and their ways of magic and some Ettiquette. I might stray off from time to time so I promise that I won't give out too much homework." She smiled genuinely when Hermoine gave a sigh of disappointment and she began to talk to them about the importance of N.E.W.T.s. After all had been said, she passed out the books she had found about different and interesting cultures that she would be covering with them for that year.  
"Are there any questions?" She smiled and placed her hands on the desk.  
A ferret-faced student with platnium hair raised his hand.  
"Yes, Mister--?"  
"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy," his voice was dull and droning. She stiffened at the last name but shook it off mentally and nodded so he could continue.  
"What does this class have to do with our wizarding lives?" His voice had a slight sneer as he raised an eyebrow and his gorillia like friends snickered behind their hands.  
"Well, Mister Malfoy... I should think with the money behind that sneer, you'd know all about enriching your life with knowledge of places where you might travel." She spoke clearly and watched him unblinking. "This class," she was now speaking to everyone, "is to ensure that you understand more about your world rather than just your personal bubble. If you were to become a Treasure Hunter or just travel for fun, you would know how to act properly infront of the people giving you their hospitality. In short, I'm teaching you how to have manners with understanding of why behind those manners."  
"Which will we be starting on, Professor Ais?" Hermoine raised her hand and readied her quill.  
"Japanese cultures. If you wish, you can read pages fourteen through twenty to get a good head start. When you come back next, we'll begin a feast and after we will talk of what different magic methods they use. I'll expect you to take notes, however. No essays for now.... That'll be the bell, you're free to leave for your next class. Thank you."  
Her first students trickled out of her class, she winked at Harry and the rest before they left. She collapsed in her chair after everyone had left and exhaled noisily.  
"Not bad for your first lesson. You handled Malfoy nicely as well. But if you give them too much slack then they'll walk all over your lessons in the future." Lupin grinned, clapping his hands and walked towards her desk.  
"It's the first day and I had no idea that you were the new Divinations professor, O Wise Seer," she laughed and leaned back in her chair. "I'll be firmer soon... we're all stressed out so I'm trying to give a little slack for now." The clock struck the hour and she blinked, her heart stopped for a minute and she hopped up.  
"AIYA! I'm late to meet the new exchange student! Sorry, Remus! I'll see you at lunch, all right?" She hugged him on her way out and rushed down to Dumbledore's Gargoyle where a pretty girl stood alone with a bag slung over her left shoulder. Aislynn panted a little and leaned against the gargoyle that became somewhat honory that he was now just a part of the wall to her.  
"I am so sorry. Please forgive me for my tardiness," she laughed and stood up to shake her hand. "I'm Aislynn Stellar... Please call me Professor Ais."  
"Hi. I'm Emily Smithinson." She smiled. Emily was about two inches shorter than Aislynn with long, cork-screw curly, strawberry-blond hair. Her eyes were a deep blue hue and hands were pale that were lithe and delicate. She reminded Aislynn of a procelin doll, especially with her pouty pink lips. She was careful not to speak to loudly for fear of breaking her to peices.  
"I hear that you've come all the way from The U.S. just to join Hogwart's. I was actually born there. What part of America are you from?"  
"Cleavland, Ohio. I actually have a few pictures of around home, it's very beautiful," Emily smiled her gorgeous smile and reached into her bag to pull out a few pictures of her house and it's surroundings. Aislynn took a look at them and smiled fondly, trying to remember what Maryland looked like around this time of the season. She handed the pictures back to their owner and placed a soft hand on her back to begin to lead her around the school.  
"I won't be able to stay with you all the time, so I'll introduce you to a few very nice students in your same house. It's the same one that I was in, actually... I'm sure that you'll be most comfortable there. They'll teach you more about the ropes, like when meals are served, where your classes are and when they are, so on and so forth." She smiled and heard the bell ring for lunch then began to lead her to the Great Hall where Emily watched the ceiling, awestruck.  
Luckily, Hermoine and Ron were all ready at the table. Aislynn introduced them to Emily who was very shy and fidgited with the sleeve of her black robes. Ron seemed very taken with her the moment she sat down betwixt the two.  
"Will you please take Emily under your wings? She's very far from home and has most of your classes with you." She smiled and left the three to talk amongst themselves. There was a new buzz around the Great Hall about the pretty new girl that had arrived from America. Girls watched her with a slight jealous eye, and boys watched her like love-struck puppies. Aislynn took her seat next to Snape who still seemed very upset with her from her harsh words at breakfast.  
"Hello, Severus. How is your first day going so far?" She smiled and rested her cheek on her hand, interested at what he'd have to say.  
"Foul. Thank you for asking but not caring."  
"Wow... your icy shoulder has grown into a glacier. Maybe later I could... warm you up?" She laughed and pat his arm softly. "I'll teach you how to flirt yet, Snapey-poo."  
He almost had his pumpkin juice spew from his nose but had a nice save when he brought his napkin to his mouth. She smiled and grabbed a club sandwich from the silvery platter and munched happily, nudging Snape in the arm with hers every now and then. She was feeling very playful and felt like having a nice game of Quidditch but the smoldering glares from Snape prevented her from doing so. After she had eaten and caught the attention of Lupin they, after confusing and crude hand motions, decided to go for a short walk.  
"So..." she strolled slowly, her hand slipped around his arm loosely. "How much longer until you change for the night? A week or so?"  
"Next week on Tuesday."  
"Be sure that you change into your older robes and that you go right back to my house as soon as your feeling up to it. I'll mix the potion tomorrow night for you, okay?" She smiled and looked up at him. His tired look had come back and she looked to the floor. "I'm sorry, Remus. About everything that's happened to you... I hear that.. that it wasn't painful. It's how he'd have wanted it. I remember how he was, the handsome devil. He wasn't the type to sit at home and have other people in all the action."  
"I know, but... besides you, he was the closest friend I've had left. And I didn't even know you were still around up until four months ago. My sympathies go out to Harry, however. He's lost so much and he's still quite young." His baratone voice was quiet and his expression was vacant.  
"Harry is a lot stronger than people think. I'm sure he's figured out that Sirius wouldn't have wanted him to mourn him in misery but remember what precious moments they had together. His friends are taking good care of him too." She slowed him to a stop and watched him carefully. "You know... Molly and yourself could take care of him. I hear that his muggle home isn't that fantastic. I've heard how he speaks of you, he looks up to you, Remus."  
He blinked and looked at her thoughtfully as though he were seriously considering it.  
"I don't think I could do that," he said finally. "I am, afterall, a werewolf. It would be difficult for him to run back and forth between the Burrow and my small shack. Molly has had children and knows what to do. She's taken him as her own and I really don't feel the urge to intrude on what little happiness he has with his good friends."  
Her face became stern and angry looking, "you know, I bet you didn't for one second consider to ask Harry what he would like. Give him the option." She slipped her hand away from his arm, her temper and voice rising. "And who on earth said that you had to stay at your place? You're more than welcome at my home! Any of you, at any time! As far as I'm concerned, you don't think too much about what people want. You always have to take the safer approach to everything! MAYBE you should think a little harder and MAYBE you should ask him to see what he wants!" She stormed off, long strands of renagade hair falling behind her as she walked to her office.  
He watched her as she turned the corner. He smiled softly and cocked his head to the left, chuckling in his throat... his boyish looks coming back to his face again.  
"I made her mad again..." He headed down to his own office. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
That concludes the second chapter to Ticking Clocks ^_^ 


	3. Ticking Clocks 3

Disclaimer: I do not own or in any way take credit for the wonderful world of Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is much more creative than I ^_^. So before you decide to have a heart attack about the names I use in this and suing me for all I'm worth, I'll remember that I wrote a disclaimer to save my ass, dammit.  
  
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The time passed by quickly that day and Remus himself had no idea that he had taught all his classes with no troubles at all. As a matter of fact, he barely thought about it until dinner had approached. He dusted off his robes and shut his briefcase then made his way down the corridors to the Great Hall. He was stopped suddenly by a woman nearly knocking him to the ground when she pounced and hugged him tightly.  
"MOONY! It's been ages! How are you holding up, old boy?" Dark violet eyes danced with happiness at the sight of him. The familiar woman stood at about 5'7, her long curtain of black hair curling at the ends. She looked very elegant in her deep wine-red colored robes that did her body no justice.  
"Rhiane...? Rhiane Westwaters?" He felt his voice crack slightly from surprise. "I thought that you lived in America..? Are...." He laughed and stuffed his hands in his pockets, "you're the one thats come to take my place as Defense Against Dark Arts teacher? I had no idea that it'd be you."  
"Yeah! I won't be taking it right away, but of course that's what I'm here for. How are you anyhow? I'm so excited to see you again!" She hugged him tightly to the point where he thought he might black-out.  
"I'm well enough. A lot has happened since you left, you know." He felt the oxygen run back to his brain after she had been satisfied with her hug.  
She looked down at the ground and nodded. Speaking slower and quieter now, "I heard and I visited his grave site. I'm so sorry, Lupin. I know they were your best buds." She tinkered with a bracelet and looked at it with saddened eyes.  
"Yes, well..." Remus trailed off, thinking about the losses that he'd gone through once again. He cleared his throat to try and keep himself from shedding more tears and pasted on a smile. "You're just in time for dinner, Rhiane."  
"Perfect! I've all ready got my things set up in a bedroom, not yours, so I'm all ready to go," she giggled and swept her arm around his and rested her head on his shoulder. "Those are really nice robes. Did you get a new job, besides this one?"  
"Er... no.." He glanced down at her, a little uncomfortable but he let her cling to him nevertheless.  
"Oh? Did someone buy them for you? I have to say, it's just your color. Oh, Lupin, I'm so happy to see you again! Have you read any good books lately? I was reading a really good one on the plane ride over here and it gave me tons of informations about charms! It's actually called 'Charms For Dummies', great book. Maybe you should read it sometime, but I can't remember how good you are with charms. As I recall you were a little better at it than James. But in any case...." She spoke very quickly and strolled with him toward the Great Hall. He had to admit that it was good to hear her chatting away happily again.  
He let out a hearty laugh as they entered the Great Hall at a great blond joke she had told. Aislynn stood up with a smile but he watched it fall at the sight of Rhiane on his arm. She sat down slowly, not taking her eyes off the two of them. He could have sworn that Rhiane had smiled with deep satisfaction to see that her arrival had both Snape and Stellar brooding with anger. He led her to the seat next to his own and she began to chat away with Professor Flitwick and himself. He risked glancing at Aislynn from time to time and saw that she was either staring at her food or was caught staring toward his end of the table. Finally she had left when he glanced over again.  
With a wince, he excused himself, explaining he was exhausted. Remus walked quickly down the halls, searching left and right for Aislynn. He had a faint idea on why she would leave but he wasn't exactly sure.  
"Looking for someone, Lupin?" A cold voice came from behind a statue. He turned and looked at her. Even her posture was cold like the statue she leaned against.  
"Yes. I was looking for you, actually."  
"Oh... for some reason I'm surprised," she blinked slowly. "I left you a note right after I yelled in the hall. I felt really bad. It's up in your living quarters. That's what I wanted to tell you when I stood up."  
He watched her lift her chin slightly in a sort of last stand for pride.  
"Thank you. I'll read it when I get back..." His voice trailed off and he looked at the ground, at a loss for words.  
"Well then, I'll be off. Good night." She uncrossed her arms and started to head down the corridor.  
"Aislynn! Wait..." The words slipped out of his thin lips before he could stop himself. "What is bothering you? Why are you behaving so differently now?"  
She turned around with tears in her eyes. Those big beautiful eyes that he'd grown fonder of.  
"So, you're going to play the innocent this time? You're going to play stupid this time? Fine! Make me explain it to you and lose the last bit of dignity I have.." She sniffled. "You remember back when we were taking the O.W.L.s... I was head over heels for a certain young Black. Always looking hopefully in his direction so that he might perhaps notice me and fall as deeply as I had. Lily and I talked about you and your posse all the time but she didn't know that I had a crush on him. Then Westwaters came. He and everyone else of the male gender fell for her. She began going out with him and I lost interest.. I felt like she knew what I wanted so she had to have it. It's silly, I know..." She stopped and wiped her tears away.  
"After I had gotten over Sirius, I started to talk to you because we had the same classes together. And I... Then she... Every time at Hogsmeade I'd see you two hanging out and laughing. But for some strange reason, I still had feelings for.... I felt jealous, of course, but I wouldn't stop being around you. I couldn't. Because Lily and James started to actually grow attatched that meant that I became a better friend too. Westwaters had grown tired of the game and moved onto Severus... Poor guy.. And now! And NOW she's back! Hanging all over you! Not that it bugs me! Because I'm more mature than that, dammit!" She wiped her tears furiously with her robes sleeve.  
"Ais..." He took a step towards her but she stepped back.  
"No. The only man I've really actually loved... and she'll take you away.. But ya know, it's all right," her lower lip trembled along with her voice.  
"It's not like that. Please, Aislynn. Let's go and get a cup of tea, all right?" He had a strange sensation of his heart breaking because she was crying but floating because she had said the words he wanted to hear.  
"I'm not feeling well. Just... I won't be like this tomorrow.. I'm sorry. For everything. I-I..." She shook her head and more tears spilled to her flushed cheeks. With a toss of her hair, she was gone around the corner, whimpering and sniffling.  
Remus wanted to run after her, sweep her in his arms and kiss away all her sadness. He sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead. He'd have to explain it to her once she had calmed down. Slowly he made his way to his living quarters and sat down in a chair to read what she had written earlier. An owl must have had it in it's beak because he found some puncture marks in the very top of the parchment. He read it word for word very slowly,  
  
Dear Remus,  
How are you fairing? I have to admit that I feel very foolish for the way I acted earlier. I apologize for my behaivor. However, to get right to the point... you should think a bit about keeping Harry with you sometime. Ask him what he would like to do. I'm sure that you'll be glad if you do. And you know that you are more than welcome to stay as guests in my house.  
While I'm hot on the subject... I was wondering if you'd like to stay as a permenant guest in my house? We are both in the Order... And if Harry stayed with us then he'd be safe times two. Of course Molly would help take care of him as well.. Just think about it some. You don't have to answer right away. Sometime would be nice, though. Take it easy...  
Aishite imasu,  
Aislynn I. Stellar  
  
He folded it up nicely and closed his eyes. What was he going to do? How was he going to explain everything to her?  
Rhiane had waited until she knew that Aislynn had calmed down a little before barging into her living quarters. Aislynn looked up, startled.  
"All right! You listen to me, Stellar. It's the first night and all ready you're treating me as if I were making your world crash down on you." She pointed a finger to the door, "and poor Remus is probably a nervous wreck..."  
"How dare you come into my quarters and start telling me which end is up? Hanging all over him when you know for a fact that I love him!" She stood up, shaking in a fury.  
"YEAH! I know! I've known it all along! He is my friend, Aislynn. That's all he is. Since Sirius died he's been my support beam... We've been sending owls back and forth. That's as far as it'll ever go. Friendship."  
Aisylynn stood in a stupor for a moment. Rhiane had never called her by her first name before. She suddenly felt very foolish again.  
"And what about Black?"  
"What about him? You never made a move, so I did." Rhiane glared at her and crossed her arms. She let that sink in before grilling into her some more. "And I don't think it's very fair of you to be exploiting my love life to anyone. Not even Remus. Especially about Serverus..."  
"I...." She sighed and swallowed her pride, "I'm sorry."  
"Don't apologize to me, ya great big air-head. Apologize to him! Jeez... And after that, you can go to the Gryffindor Tower and keep guard for a while."  
"Now, hold on! You can't just give me orders like you're the Queen Bitch of the Universe! And I'm not as air-headed as you... Miss Let's-Come- And-Smile-Sweetly-At-Snape-So-He'll-Forgive-Me."  
Rhiane made a sound of objection.  
"Oh.... have a cup of tea, will you?" She still spoke hostiley and Aislynn whisked her wand out, white sparks came from the end of it. A steaming cup of Chai spiced tea was floating in front of Rhiane.  
"Thank you!" She replied just as hostiley and took a sip. She took her wand out, still holding her cup and pointed at her,  
"Incarcerous!" Ropes came out from her wand with red sparks and wrapped around Aislynn somewhat tightly. "Now, we are going to talk to Remus!"  
"What are you doing?! Are you mad?! I can go there on my own free will, you know! Release me!" She struggled and tried to free herself from the ropes.  
"I don't think I will. Think of this as punishment for bad mouthing me in the halls." She smiled happily and dragged her to Lupin's living quarters. She barged in once again and pushed Aislynn in with a grin.  
"Hi-ee! She's come to apologize to you for being an air-head." Rhiane sipped at her tea again and plopped down in a chair. Remus looked up from the parchment that Aislynn had written and blinked, trying to contain a laugh,  
"She had to come as a prisoner of war?"  
"Not prisoner of war! Just... hostile witness." She laughed and spoke an incantation with her wand to release the ropes from her.  
"If you think you've seen hostile, just wait until you fall asleep, Westwaters!" Her ears went a little red with anger.  
"Pipe down, Stellar. I'll do it again if I have to," She readied her wand as did Aislynn.  
"Ladies! Please! Let's keep our maturity while in my quarters at least." He lifted his hands and stood between the raised wands.  
"She started it!" Rhiane sputtered.  
"And I'll finish it too!" She glared.  
"Aislynn! Rhiane! Stop it, for crying out loud!" He felt like he was drowning in estrogen and sat down slowly. For a while, he merely watched them stare at each other.. if only looks could kill.  
"A little privacy, please, Westwaters..." Aislynn nodded to the door.  
Rhiane got up, blew a raspberry at her and left Lupin's living quarters. Remus looked up at her and looked at his hands,  
"Ais, look... It's not what it lo--"  
She knelt down and hugged him, stopping him in the middle of his sentence. "I'm so sorry, Remus. I didn't know. I acted very rudely. I should have known the facts before biting your head off. And I shouldn't have talked badly about Rhiane... Please forgive me again."  
"Forgiven, Ais..." He lifted a hand to her head and buried it in her soft hair gently while the other hand wrapped around her shoulders. They sat like this for a while, savoring ever second. After, Aislynn explained that she needed to go to Gryffindor Tower to keep a careful eye on the students and left him with a heavy heart. Rhiane was waiting outside and came bouncing in his quarters again after seeing Aislynn off.  
"So, did you kiss her? Did you tell her that you love her and you want to marry her and have her bare your children? Did you.... frisk her perhaps? Didja? Didja?" She wriggled her eyebrows and winked.  
He blushed and cleared his throat. "The thought never crossed my mind, Rhiane." He lied.  
"Oh, bull spit. You wanted to kiss her, take her in your arms, throw her on the bed and make her scream your name until the sun came up." She laughed and grinned widely because he had gone almost a candy apple red. "I was right!"  
"No! Rhiane! Come on, now... I... Oh, my. Look at the time. You should get some rest." He glanced at the clock and lead her out the door, he let out a great sigh and leaned against it for a moment. With a smile, he went and sat in his chair, keeping his thoughts to himself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A third chapter done! I'm on a roll, baby! 


	4. Ticking Clocks 4

Disclaimer: I do not own or in any way take credit for the wonderful world of Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is much more creative than I ^_^. So before you decide to have a heart attack about the names I use in this and suing me for all I'm worth, I'll remember that I wrote a disclaimer to save my ass, dammit.  
  
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~*The day was bright, sunny and a little nippy. Lots of laughter and incesive chattering of the students filled the crisp air. The Marauders were sitting by their favorite place, speaking of what pranks they had in mind to pull this year. Prongs had thought that putting green slime on the girls bathroom toilet seats when they sat down was a good one.  
"You know, I'm taking the girls bathroom idea and running with it. If we put horny toads in there that were actually sexually frustrated, tha'd be even better," Moony suggested with a glazed over look in his eyes and a big stupid grin on his face.  
"Why not just do both on the same night?" Padfoot played with a blade of grass idly.  
"You git. If we did that then we wouldn't have any girls screaming out of their wits because they wouldn't go in at all." Prongs ruffled his hair. "We'll have to break it up into at least two month periods before we pull another prank."  
"You? Being careful? That's a laugh." A young Black leaned against the tree trunk and glanced over at Wormtail who didn't have anything to add.  
"When do we want to do this, then," Moony asked and started to take out one of his favorite books.  
"Fairly soon. As a way to welcome the girls back to Hogwarts."  
They all nodded in agreement and fell silent with grins on their faces, watching the girls in amusement. They delighted in hearing a girl squeal in fright, especially ones they knew personally. It was time to go in for dinner and they headed toward the Great Hall. They all had a seat on their reserved bench and began to help themselves to a hearty meal. Halfway into the meal, Rhiane Westwaters came down and sat next to Sirius who was sitting on the end of his three friends. All the girls watched her in jealousy... except two. Aislynn Stellar sat next to Lily Evans, contented with her soup and bread. Lily spoke about her day and the charms that she had been practicing over the summer.  
"Hey, Evans... Have a good summer?" James gave his most dashing smile he could muster and watched her toss her long red hair.  
"Yes, I wasn't around you... so it was extremely nice." She shot him an Ice-Queen glare and took a bite out of her pot pie. Aislynn snorted into her mashed potatoes and brought a napkin up to her mouth.  
"Aw, c'mon. You're not still mad about the incident with Snivellus, are you?" His smile fell and he furrowed his brows.  
"As a matter of fact, I am. Both of you are rude and incorrigible. So, to solve the issue of my hate towards both of you... I avoid you at all costs." She shrugged and nibbled on a peice of crust.  
"Ah, but you are talking to me."  
She looked at him and kept her mouth shut for the next few minutes then resumed her conversation with Aislynn. They talked animatedly for about ten minutes more before they got up to head up to Gryffindor Tower. Rhiane watched after them and smiled a little.  
"Someone should warn the school about their tempers," she chewed on her food.  
"Yeah, Prongs. You should give up on her and go for that babe from Ravenclaw. She's available and I hear she's kept her eye on you for some time now." Sirius nodded his head toward Ravenclaw's section and wrapped an arm around Rhiane breifly. James played with his food for several minutes with a vacant expression in his eyes. The Marauders looked at each other then the melancholy Potter. They would formulate a plan to help him out later. Soon after, they all got up to head to the Gryffindor Tower as well. There, it was warm with fire and a friendly air.  
Aislynn played Wizard's Chess with Lily, who was a worthy opponent, in the corner of the homey Common Room. Remus came and sat down next to Aislynn.. Lily looked up, glared and immediately moved up to the girls dormitories. Aislynn sighed deeply and leaned back in the chair.  
"Why is she so moody?" Remus picked up one of the figurines and inspected it as if he were interested.  
"Potter, of course. She still holds a grudge and since you're his friend, she holds one against you too."  
"You're my friend, why doesn't she leave whenever you're around," he grinned at her and rested his chin on his fist.  
She smiled a little and shook her head, "because she's nice like that." She began to place the pieces back in their box and glanced over at him. "What?"  
"Look, Ais... you've gotta help us get those two together. She's really cutting Prongs deep whenever she merely looks at him with a glare."  
"I'm sorry for your buddy. But I'm not going to play a part in tricking her to like Potter. That's not my style. You should just let fate take it's course. She'll come around as soon as his head deflates. Women don't like men that strut around like peacocks. Most women like the intelligent, strong, funny, silent type..." She trailed off and blushed a flattering pink.  
"We can't just sit around watching the clock as he sulks. It's disgusting. Look at him! He's never sad like this, even when rejected. He really likes her." He nodded to James who sat with his head hung and the same vacant expression in his eyes. She watched young Potter and she had to admit that he did look pitiful. She looked up to the girls dormitories and exhaled after looking into Remus' eyes.  
"All right! I can't stand it when you look at me like that... big, watery, pleading, puppy-eyes. I'm such a push over," she grimaced and shut the box. A happy smile came to his face, her heart skipped a beat but she shook it off. "What plan did you have in mind?" She watched and listened carefully to the plan that he had thought up. She felt like she was somehow betraying Lily by helping the guy she had grown to loathe. After about half an hour of talking and getting Aislynn's ideas too, Remus headed over to James and told him what was going to be happening. Prongs' face lit up immediately and he looked at Aislynn with a smile, he nodded in his gratitude and she waved it off with a big smile.  
A few weeks had passed after Aislynn had explained that she had a guy that she wanted to set Lily up with on a blind date. She agreed and the day when they were leaving for Hogsmeade, teased her hair, put on her best robes and dabbed some lipstick on that her mother had given her. Aislynn pulled her hair into a long elegant braid and brushed off her robes before taking Lily to where her blind date was waiting.  
"Ugh, there's Potter... Look at him, trying to smooth out his hair and messing with his glasses." Lily tossed her hair, "what is he doing there anyway? Isn't that where my blind date is supposed to be? I hope Potter didn't scare him away."  
"Er. Well, Lily..." Aislynn stopped infront of James and glanced at him a little nervously. "This is your blind date. May I introduce you to James Potter... James, this is Lily Evans."  
He grinned a little and handed her a tiger lily, while she grabbed it red in the face, he leaned over and kissed her hand.  
"Ais... I can't... Why did you...? And..." She stuttered.  
"Oh! Look at the time, I have to get to the Three Broomsticks to meet um, everyone else." Aislynn winked at James and whispered, "just don't give up, no matter what she says or does." She promptly took her leave, watching the two from afar for a moment or so.  
"Potter... I can't believe that you'd go as low to bribe my friend into tricking me," she looked at the tiger lily with a wounded expression.  
"I didn't bribe anyone. She did this on her own accord. Look, Lily.. Just give me a chance, if after this day you don't feel like seeing me anymore, I'll leave you alone and make sure to duck out of your way in the halls." He took her hands in both of his and looked her in those big, pretty green eyes.  
She glanced at the tiger lily and to him and smiled, "promise? If I'm not impressed with you, you promise that you'll go away?"  
"I promise."  
"Great! So, what did you have in mind to do? Maybe go to that cute cafe down the road for some coffee and maybe some chocolate?" She began to drag him along and placed the white tiger lily in her hair to wear.  
Aislynn was deeply satisfied with herself and wished James good luck before heading to the Three Broomsticks to tell his friends what had happened. She sat down at their table and was handed a Butterbeer.  
"How did it go, Ais?" Remus asked with a hopeful look. Sirius and Rhiane looked mildly interested but continued to snuggle while Peter stared at her longingly.  
"She took it really well and they're on their way to that cafe down the road," she smiled and took a swig of her drink. "James is really charming when he's one-on-one..."  
"He learned from the best," Sirius puffed his chest out and beamed. "Observe..." He glanced around and moved his chair back. Rhaine watched him with an eyebrow quirked.  
"Excuse me, miss... I couldn't help but notice your beautiful eyes.. Can I buy you a Butterbeer?" He smiled suavely and winked. The girl giggled like she had a feather under her butt. Rhiane stood up quickly so that her chair flew to the ground, her cheeks were red and she reached around and slapped Sirius in the face hard. He looked up at her, slightly stunned. After she let it sink in she dumped her Butterbeer on his head.  
"Go get a room, will you?!" She tossed her hair and stormed out.  
"What was that for?" He looked around to everyone at the table, wiping Butterbeer out of his eyes.  
Aislynn laughed softly, "you deserved that one, Sirius... talking to another girl flirty-like while your lady is around." She looked down at her cold butterbeer and back to Remus....  
Rhiane muttered to herself, glaring vacantly infront of her. Her hands were clenched at her sides and she grit her teeth. She turned a corner and collided into something hard and fell back to her rump with an 'oof!'.  
"Why don't you watch where you're go--" She looked up while rubbing her bum.  
"You're the one who bumped into me..." A greasy, wired haired boy lifted a brow and crossed his arms.  
"Oh.. Snape. Sorry. I just was angry and..." She got up and dusted her robes off and trailing from her train of thought. She blinked and had a look as if a lightning bolt had just struck her. She smiled at him sweetly and bat her lashes. "Say.. you're available, aren't you?"  
He took a step back and gave her a look of utter disbelief.  
"Well? Do you want to be my boyfriend? I'm sure that we could have a great time, if you'll only say yes." She leaned in closer to him and wrapped her arm around his.  
"Er... um..." He cleared his throat and pulled the collar of his robes back nervously, "yes?"  
"Wonderful! We can make this our first date, then!" She smiled and kissed his cheek and started to drag him to the candy store. He was still looking as though he were a deer in headlights by the time they had reached their destination....  
Remus watched the girl that he'd had his eyes set on since last year, she was a tall pretty blond from Hufflepuff and sweet as sugar. He leaned his cheek on his hand and let out a soft sigh. Aislynn knew who he was watching and let out a soft sigh as well. She suddenly became very self conscious and played with her hair to straighten it up. She had tried to be nicer and sweeter than normal and dress nicely around him, but nothing seemed to work. She was slowly losing her confidence. Hot tears began to well up in her eyes and she excused herself to go back to Hogwarts.  
"What's the matter, Aislynn?" Sirius asked.  
"I... I just don't feel too well all of a sudden," she stuttered and took one last look at Remus before walking out the doors. Whispering to herself helped her think but only seemed to make her feel worse... "Being myself didn't work. Being someone else didn't work... Maybe.. I should just give up. Go back to Ireland or America." She stiffened and exhaled hastily. Depression had been an illness she was battling ever since childhood but it seemed to wash over her and want to drown her to put her out of her misery lately. Aislynn sunk down to the ground slowly, sobbing into her sleeves of her robes. Everything had seemed to be wrong in her life. Nothing was going right and it all piled on at one breaking point.  
Her stomach began to hurt when horrible memories consumed her... Her mother and father leaving her in an abandon building when she was just four years old... she had been a bad girl when she unlocked the door to her room when they shut her in it for more than a day. The day that she had found out that after she went to Hogwarts school, she would no longer be welcome to her foster mother's home. Feeling that her grades were less than perfect. When she had found out that Sirius had accepted Rhiane, a friend, to go steady with. Remus not noticing her after all her attempts to drop that she likes him... She found herself in her dormitory, not knowing how she had gotten herself there. Feeling very tired, Aislynn flopped into bed, feeling sicker.  
The next morning came but she did not rise out of bed. She slept on and on. The second day came and finally she was taken to the hospital wing where she still slept. The fourth day came and she lifted her lids slowly to see a worried Lily, Remus, Molly and Rhiane standing close to her bed. She had no recollection of what had happened or where the time had gone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have just read the product of chapter four to Ticking Clocks. 


	5. Ticking Clocks 5

Disclaimer: I do not own or in any way take credit for the wonderful world of Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is much more creative than I ^_^. So before you decide to have a heart attack about the names I use in this and suing me for all I'm worth, I'll remember that I wrote a disclaimer to save my ass, dammit.  
  
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She smiled at them all and lifted herself up onto the pillow to watch them better. There was a long and uncomfortable silence where everyone stared at her and she stared back. Aislynn lifted a thin brow and brushed her fingers through her hair uncertainly then put a hand to her mouth with wide eyes.  
"Do I have something in my teeth?"  
"No, no... we're just surprised that you're up, is all." Lily smiled, looking relieved that someone had finally spoken.  
"You've been asleep for quite a while, Ais," Remus sat down at the foot of her bed and watched her. She looked at the four and laughed, "you guys are good jokers. Moving me out of my bed last night and bringing me here. I didn't feel a thing. All right, all right... move so I can get dressed or I'm going to be late for breakfast."  
"Do you even know what day it is?" Rhiane tilted her head to the side and smiled a little sadly.  
"Of course I know what day it is! It's Saturday. Now move it, Remus or I'll boot you off myself," she smiled and looked at them questioningly. Her brows furrowed in confusion and her smile fell slowly.  
"It's Wednsday afternoon..." Molly looked at the bed railing and traced small figure eights. Her face went expressionless.  
"I see... Wow. I'm sorry if I worried you. I..." She lowered her eyes and almost hid her face away.  
"Nah, we know that you're tough. You'd better be ready for Quidditch on Saturday, Stellar. So, er, Lily... Molly, don't we have someplace to be?"  
Lily blinked over at Rhiane and mouthed silently, "what?"  
"Yeah! The library!" She grabbed Lily's and Molly's arms and began to drag them away. "Later, Stellar... Lupin." They left, closing the door after themselves.  
Aislynn played with her sheets, twisting them in her hands softly. She'd hoped that this wouldn't happen in school. She'd managed to go five years without it happening. She exhaled and looked up at Remus, ashamed at what had happened. He watched her and slid closer to determine her emotions better.  
"Want to tell me what's the matter, Ais?" He looked down at her very wisely and his voice was soft and comforting.  
"Just exhausted." Her answer came out quickly. She felt his eyes boring in deeper, trying to figure out what was going through her mind.  
"What's going on? No one just drifts asleep for four days and tries to hide by telling someone that they were 'exhausted'. I'm really worried, here."  
"I don't want to talk about it. Just leave it alone okay, Remus?" She averted her eyes to the left and stared at the window. She honestly didn't want to tell him anything about her that would shadow all she had done to try and get in the spotlight with him.  
"What is it, damn it?! I can't stand to see you like this! You look like someone has broken your spirit into a million peices! All I could do was watch the clock while you were in bed, sleeping away the time."  
She lifted her face to him, eyes filled with angry tears. "You want to come here and tell me about your sad story? Someone HAS broken my spirit! I'm normally a strong person... until you came along. A lot of people had hurt me before any of my witchcraft began. Did you know my parents abandon me? All three of them? Did you know that I have issues with my grades because I'm a freakin' perfectionist? DID YOU KNOW that I LOVED Sirius and it broke my heart to see him go out with one of my good friends?! AND did you know, Remus J. Lupin, that I love you with all my heart but no matter what I do, you won't notice me?! You were the last factor that broke me into millions of peices, Remus! Just you! Not anyone else... I could handle that!" Tears fell freely down her cheeks as she flushed and shook angrily.  
He looked at her with surprise, "Ais... I had no idea..."  
"No one does! I kept everything a secret! My sickness... my love for you... my hate for my parents and witchcraft!"  
"You love me, Aislynn?"  
She sniffled and stopped herself, still trembling now more with fright than anger. She lowered her face so that her hair would curtain her. He knew... What had she gotten herself into? Sobbing quietly, she brought her knees up to her chest.  
"J-just leave m-me alone, Remus.."  
He reached for her and wrapped his arms around her. He stroked her hair softly. Aislynn could only stared wide-eyed at the wall.  
"I won't leave you alone. I'm in too deep now... and I like it that way." He moved her back at arms length to look in her eyes and smiled very lightly then leaned in and brushed his lips across hers. Her eyes seemed to close automatically at the soft touch of his warm lips and she leaned into his kiss, deepening it. They both savored the moment in each others arms.  
THUD. They broke the kiss and the embrace to look up and see James and Sirius talking happily to each other. She wiped the remains of her tear stains and tears away, blushing slightly.  
"Hey Aislynn! How ya feeling?" Sirius greeted her with a smile.  
"M-much better. Thank you... Did I miss anything?" She looked at Remus, who was blushing slightly but looking at her with a wide grin.  
"Nope! You're just in time for the Quidditch practice. So get dressed and grab your broom!" James' eyes lightened up at the thought of showing off to Lily in the match on Saturday.  
"Hey, Lupin... You going to come and watch the practice?" Sirius glanced at him then to the window. He nodded slowly and left with the other two so that Aislynn could get dressed and they all headed down to the Quidditch field. Remus and Molly took their places in the bleachers to watch their friends and talked every now and then about spells and books they had read.  
Captian and Seeker of the Gryffindor team was James Potter. The three Chasers were Rhiane Westwaters, Aislynn Stellar and non other than Lily Evans. Beaters consisted of Arthur Weasley and Frank Longbottom. The Keeper was possibly the cockiest of them all besides James... Sirius Black. Combined, this team was almost undefeatable where no one could pull them asunder. Through rain and sun, they practiced as hard as they could. Weaving in and out from each other, shooting glances to show what they wanted or what was happening. They all moved as one in a fluid like motion so that winning any match was a breeze.  
"Keep together, Lily and Rhiane!" James yelled out while keeping an eye out for the golden snitch.  
"Pipe down! We're only a few feet apart!" Rhiane yelled back and turned with the rest of the Chasers. This formation, a flying 'v', was to keep beaters and other Chasers away from the Quaffle. They performed two figure eights then proceeded to split apart. Remus leaned to Molly and explained their tactics to her as they did them, also remarking how much it looked like a ballet.  
"Aislynn, be more aggressive! Bump into her if you have to!" James, yet again, barked out commands. She glared up at him and lightly bumped against Rhiane to keep her away from the Quaffle. Zig-zagging was one of her favorites to keep oppents away from her prize, she also kept it tucked close to her stomach rather than just holding it on her side where it was more out in the open. This allowed her to keep both hands on her broom stick which had less percentage of falling or losing control. She weaved in and out of the towering stands with Lily and Rhiane hot on her tail, she approached Sirius and smirked. With a lift of her arm, she readied to throw it... she faked the throw to get him out of the way and threw the Quaffle through the top most hoop.  
"YES!" Aislynn did a little disco move on her broom with a big grin on her face. "Yeah baby! Look who got past 'The Wall'... More like 'stepping stone'.." She laughed and gave Rhiane a high-five.  
He shot her a menacing glare and grit his teeth, shouting, "just lucky!"  
James beamed and looked as if he could have hugged her for the move she had just pulled. He glanced at Sirius who looked even more sour at his smile, he flew down next to him, "just work on your balance/eye coordnation and you should get it, all right?"  
Sirius nodded and puffed his chest out slightly.  
"All right! Let's try it again, this time with more emotion, people!" He flew higher up to try and get a glimse of the golden light that caught his eye so easily.  
"FORE!" Arthur yelled with a grin and swatted a Bludger away from Lily. She gave him a two-fingered salute in her thanks and shot after Rhiane beside Aislynn. Rhiane gave them a good chase for their money but Lily flew under her and tapped the Quaffle away with her palm. Aislynn was there to catch it and slowed her broom down to lose the two and dodge a Bludger.  
"Yeeeeiii Haaw," Rhiane cried enthusiastically. She raised a hand in the air like she was holding a laso and made a complete 'u' to turn the chase around. Lily turned slightly on her broom to dodge Frank and leaned down to fly faster. Aislynn glanced up at James and grinned a little, he nodded and she threw the Quaffle into the air, twenty feet away from the goal hoops. When it came down she turned quickly and swatted it away from her with the tail of her broom. Sirius, who mis-calculated, missed it by inches as it fell into one of the lower goals.  
"Black! What's the matter with you today? Someone tugging on your heart strings?" Lucius Malfoy called up from the bleachers. All of the players stopped, except for the occasional 'whack!' from the Beaters.  
"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Arthur glared and readied to aim the bludger at him as soon as it came his way.  
"Came to watch your... ahem... practice. It's more like a riot to me." He drawled on, inspecting his finger nails. James grit his teeth and adjusted his glasses, clenching his broom.  
"We'll see what's a riot on our first game together, Malfoy!"  
The rest of the Slytherin team laughed or cackled. Lucius chuckled deep in his throat and called up, "the only one that I'm worried about... is Stellar... She seems to be the only one that has some sort of tactic or class... or even talent."  
"How dare you?! I couldn't be what I am today without any of my team or friends around to help me out! I wouldn't want to be anywhere but with them! We're a team! Better than yours and you're just sore about it!" Aislynn fumed and spat in his general direction. He grinned and gave a little wave of his hand so that the rest of his team left, muttering to themselves about her talking back to him so hautily. Lucius winked at her and blew a kiss, turned and walked back to Hogwarts.  
She shuttered and grimaced, "I feel so dirty now."  
"He really has a thing for you, Aislynn..." Lily blinked and lifted a brow, "I don't know why. You're about as mean as he is." She glanced over to Aislynn who was about ready to kick her off her broom.  
"Only to him! Only to him!"  
Down in the bleachers, Molly was raising her hands to sit Remus down who seemed to be very distraught and angry.  
"He wants to kiiiiss you!" Rhiane yelled out to Aislynn.  
"I want him to kiss me about as much as I need a big, painful boil on my ass," she leaned forward to make a soft landing back to earth. They all followed after her lead, James had caught the snitch shortly before the inturruption of the Slytherins. The team made their way to their Gryffindor locker room to change into their normal robes. They sat down and had a short discussion about the practice before going off and snarfing down some food.  
"It was a really good practice... however... we're a tad rusty." James cleaned his glasses on his robes. "Stellar, you were all right today, if I see that on the feild during the matches... well... it'd be great. Evans, need to work on your agility on your broom.. speed is the key but otherwise good work. Weasley, your aim is spectacular as is Longbottoms just follow through when you swing for a further and harder blow. Westwaters, you're pretty fast but you need to keep a look out on where you're going and who's coming at you, all right? And Black... we just need to work a little harder on your broom/eye coordnation as well as balance and I'm sure that you'll be as great as everyone knows you are.... All right! Let's go and get some food!" He smiled and they herded out toward Hogwarts where they were waited for by Molly and Remus.  
They all sat down at their table and began to eat like horses with huge appitites. Lily was getting a little more affectionate with James, Aislynn noticed. Sirius and Rhiane weren't talking to each other, however, Rhiane was smiling sweetly toward Serverus' direction. Arthur and Molly kept glancing at each other then looking down to their food with a blush. Peter was watching a pretty girl from Hufflepuff and Remus was darting glances between Lucius and herself.  
"I've missed a lot, haven't I?" Aislynn mutter to Remus.  
"Yeah. You were really great out on the feild today, Ais." He smiled a little and put his fork down, "I dare say that Lucius is right about your talent."  
"Everyone on the team has talent. Everyone off the team has talent... He just decided to notice me, even though I'd prefer that he didn't." She sipped at some water and glanced around the table.  
"Really," he smiled wider and perked up slightly.  
"Really. He's so pompous and... snobby."  
"Hear hear!" Lily lifted her goblet to the air as did the rest, Peter being the last. They all drank to Malfoy being a prat and laughed the dinner away. Mostly, two by two's they headed up to Gryffindor Common Room to sit and talk, digesting their food and what had happened that day. Then, slowly they all went into their dormitories to get some rest. The six boys and four girls all talked quietly as they got ready for sleep.  
"So, you're all right now, Aislynn, right?" Molly asked and smiled at her.  
Aislynn nodded and smiled back, happy that she was a little concerned for her health... she always seemed to be very caring.  
"Love seems to be in the air..." She thought aloud.  
"Yeah! Lucius loves you... you love Remus and Remus loves books!" Rhiane giggled and slipped under her covers.  
"Oh yeah, like you can talk, Westwaters." Lily brushed out her hair, "Sirius loves you, you love Sirius but Severus loves you too." She grinned at Rhianes guilty silence.  
"Let's not forget about you, Lily, dear!" Molly laughed and bat her lashes to imitate Lily, "'Oh Potter... I hated you once but now I can't stop thinking of you! I love you!'" Lily threw a soft pillow at her and laughed, nodding in admittance.  
"And yet..." Aislynn gave her a sly side-glance. "I see you writing 'A.W.' everywhere on your spare parchments. Could it stand for.... Arthur Weasley?!"  
"Why, yes! It could, Aislynn!" Rhiane laughed and turned on her side, comfortable in her bed. They all giggled every now and then and eventually said their good nights.....  
"I don't get it!" Sirius paced back and forth in his pajamas.  
"Well, you were flirting with another girl while she was there... The least you could've done was be discreet about it." Arthur streched and yawned loudly. Sirius became silent and sat on his bed to think in silence on how to get Rhiane back.  
"I'm going to take Lily everywhere she wants to go next time we go to Hogsmeade... She loves flowers so I'm gonna get her a potted flower so she can keep it and it won't die on her." James smiled and looked at the ceiling.  
"What a fine job she's done in whipping you..." Frank grinned.  
"Wanna talk about whipping? Look at Remus. He's sick in love. Did you see the way he was going to launch at Malfoy and beat him to a pulp?" Arthur laughed and whipped out his wand, immitating Remus out on the bleachers.  
"Yeah? Well at least I don't have to write love letter to a certain Molly." Remus shot back with a wide smile on his face. "And I quote... 'My Dearest Molly... How do I love thee? I love your beautiful eyes that slice through the darkest clouds to lighten up my day... I love your hair that shines so elegantly in it's red splendor... and your lips... how I long to kiss them.' GAH!" He rolled over as Arthur tried to pounce on him. They all laughed and settled down into their beds after a while and said good night then drifted to sleep.*~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter five! @_@ Running out of ideas.... 


	6. Ticking Clocks 6

Disclaimer: I do not own or in any way take credit for the wonderful world of Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is much more creative than I ^_^. So before you decide to have a heart attack about the names I use in this and suing me for all I'm worth, I'll remember that I wrote a disclaimer to save my ass, dammit. Also, I would like to add (due to some recent events) that Rhiane is based off of my friend, Athena, ideas. When a story begins with a special marking such as: ~* and ends with the same, it is a flash back. Sorry I didn't put that in before. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A few weeks had gone by very quickly with no trouble at all and it was time for the Hogsmeade trip. Remus had gotten up early that day with a slight smile pasted to his face. He loved going back into Hogsmeade every now and then to refresh his memory about what the older days were like. It helped him keep his mind pre-occupied with better memories rather than recent events that made him want to crumble to a heap. He combed through his hair, neatly parting it and got into his robes then spritzed some cologne on.  
"You sexy beast, you." He grinned dashingly into the mirror and winked. Down in the Great Hall there was a new excitement in the air. A lot of the students had saved up every last Galleon to go and buy treats until they could come back with new pouches full of money after the holidays. He took a seat next to the empty chair where Rhiane would normally sit and loaded his plate with all of his favorite breakfast foods. After he was finished he glanced over to see if Aislynn was up and perhaps ready to head down to Hogsmeade. She waved and smiled cheerfully. Then went back to her food and harassing Severus loudly.  
"I did not." She spoke with a certain indignace in her voice.  
"I don't believe you for one second, Stellar," he spoke quietly to her and growled.  
"It's because I'm so sexy, isn't it? You're just angry at me because I wouldn't give you a snowballs chance in hell for you to get a peice of this for one night... all night." She smiled at him and puckered her lips seductively. He cleared his throat and flushed lightly. As if by magic, the conversation had been won over by Aislynn. The Great Hall was cleared out quickly and Remus got to his feet. He offered her a genuine smile as she hugged him.  
"How are you feeling?"  
"I'm well. As well to be expected in any case. You know I leave in a week again, right?"  
She nodded and took his arm, "going to Hogsmeade?"  
"I guess now I am."  
"You smell good... delightful in fact. Does your cologne have any pheramones in it because it's..... enchanting to put it lighter than I should." She sniffed the air lightly and felt a small smile cross her glossy lips.  
"No, just plain 'ole man purfume. You like it that much, hmm? I got it a while ago and just barely began to use it. Can't remember where I got it, however." Remus tried to make small talk while walking her out of Hogwarts. They spoke of the colder weather idly and somewhat awkwardly. A few students passed them by, talking and laughing happily. Aislynn glanced at him then the children.  
"Do you think that Hogwarts will be all right... I've been on guard the whole time and nothing really suspicious has been happening... but do you think it could?" She spoke softly and squeezed his arm lightly.  
"I'm sure it will be all right. No one, even the Dark Lord himself, would dare to enter Dumbledore's domain uninvited. No need to worry, Ais... Let's just go and get some drinks and wander around a bit without thinking about anything serious, all right?" Remus smiled down at her and patted her hand with his free one.  
She smiled and nodded in full agreement. Soon they reached the homely Three Broomsticks and sat down at an empty table to get a few of their favorite drinks with the rest of the interesting characters. Remus was very careful not to get tipsy from the alcohol... it was a special occasion to a point so he let himself indulge a little. Time passed cheerfully with laughter and fun conversation.  
"So, have you spoken with Harry?" Aislynn leaned against the table and propped her elbow up to rest her cheek on her hand comfortably.  
Remus turned his glass in his hand and stared at the liquid.  
"You haven't, hmm?"  
"No, not... in depth anyway." He glanced up a little sheepishly.  
"Right now he really needs someone to talk to, ya know... He doesn't seem as happy as he should be. Perhaps if you set a day for yourself and Harry to talk?"  
"The truth is, I don't want to dig up a bad memory. For either of us. It's hard for me to even mention it. I could have done something, I'm sure. Maybe a jinx on Belletrix or... or.." He lowered his head to hide his face with his hair as best he could.  
Aislynn frowned lightly and reached over to place her hand on his. She shook her head for a moment, trying to gather some words to comfort him with. She bit her lip and took in a breath, "Remus... You had to take care of Harry at the time. Sirius wanted to fight. He wouldn't put his hands up and surrender... it was his battle by the time you saw him fall. He.... he fought in what he believed in. There was nothing you could do to sway him once he convinced himself to step foot out of the house."  
Remus looked up to see her swipe a tear away quickly and looked at the scuffed floor for a minute or two then nodded.  
"Tell Harry that and I'm sure it'll bring some peace to the both of you. Then you can invite him to stay with us if he feels safe enough and if Dumbledore gives the okay for it." She smiled a little and removed her hand from his to take a sip of her drink quietly. The thought of being able to stay with her and Harry brought a happy smile to his face through the memory of losing Sirius. He straightened his robes and watched her for a while then offered his hand to her,  
"Lets go to the candy store..."  
"I haven't been there in ages," she laughed and took his hand, following him out of the Three Broomsticks after paying for the drinks. He waved to Harry who seemed to be on an outing with Cho. Ron was with the exchange student, Emily, trying to impress her with stories of his Quidditch matches.  
"Honeydukes. The best candy store in town." Aislynn smiled brightly.  
"The only candy store in town..." Remus grinned and opened the door for her. When they entered, the smell of honey and chocolate filled the air. Some Hogwarts students were still there but not many were milling around any longer. He spotted Rhiane eyeing the Chocolate Frogs but Aislynn had beaten him to greeting her.  
"I knew we'd find you here! I thought you would have been in the Three Broomsticks by now... have you been here the whole time?"  
"Nope. I had to stay behind and grade some parchments. But I made it and now I'm going to stock up." Rhiane never took her eyes off of the chocolates and hesitated in grabbing them. It looked as if she had been to the local book store, Book-Wyrm, all of those books crammed into her favorite bag. Aislynn frowned lightly and glanced to Remus who knew what she was thinking.  
"Rhiane... are you all right?" He asked her softly.  
"Peachy. Just a bit of light reading, you know... Why do you ask?"  
"Well, you tend to dive into books and never come out until you're hungry enough to come and eat. You do this whenever you're depressed," Aislynn exlaimed quietly and glanced into her violet eyes.  
"Nonsense. I'm fine. Exuse me, Remus. Thank you... Yes, it's me again. I'd like this, please.. How much? All right. Here you are. And thank you too." She smiled happily and opened a Chocolate Frog box to munch on it as she headed out of the door. Aislynn dragged Remus out the door after her.  
"You have to talk about it sometime, Rhiane." Remus broke in after catching his breath.  
"Talk about what? There's nothing to talk about except perhaps Malfoy and how much of a git he is. His father as well."  
Aislynn stepped infront of her and put her hands up to stop her. She stared into Rhiane's eyes and grew even more serious, "Rhiane.. you are my friend. You need to tell friends things that bother you or bring you joy. It's a part of what people are supposed to give and recieve from relationships... Sirius was close to you. You need to talk about it sometime."  
"I don't need to talk about it to anyone if I choose not to! And I choose not to, dammit!" Her eyes filled with tears and she walked past Aislynn, sniffling.  
Remus made a small movement toward her but Aislynn stopped him from going much further and shook her head. He sighed lightly and watched her go. They spoke quietly for a few more minutes and made their way to Hogwarts. Soon it would be time for the parent-teacher confrences which was a new idea brought in by Cornelius Fudge, mostly to keep an eye on the school as to recent events had reared their ugly head. Aislynn wasn't looking forward to this one bit... however, many of the teachers and parents alike were excited and waiting for the day that they could talk about the students together.  
What steamed Aislynn was the fact that full muggle borns would not be allowed to have their parents brought to Hogwarts, half and half were allowed their one gifted parent to come along. Naturally, she fought on the grounds it wasn't fair to those who had muggle parents. Remus tried to calm her down about it but with several women against him, it seemed futile.  
"You are single-handedly discriminating against heiratige... Again! This is against the law and unfair, Fudge! Can you imagine how lonesome some of those students are feeling right now? I've spoken to a few and they say they feel about two inches tall.. because of your poor choices!" Aislynn slammed her hands on the desk and tried to keep a civil tongue but with difficulty. Remus watched as Cornelius grew red in the face, needless to say, he wasn't the type of man to grow accostumed to having his ideas challanged.  
"I made these choices for the safety of this school," he glanced at Dumbledore wearily.  
"Bullspit! You are very aware that there are several Death-Eaters involved with their children who happen to attend Hogwarts. All you're doing is allowing them to case the place! It's even more dangerous then letting them stay at home, Fudge!" Rhiane crossed her arms over her chest and glared.  
"Mr. Fudge.." Remus began calmly, "we realize your wish to try and make this school 'safer' as you so put it. However, the consideration of the muggle-borns has not been taken into affect. Also... The point remains that certain clicks would be willingly let into this school to create as much havoc as they like... do you have a plan, perhaps, to settle these matters?"  
"I'm sure you can pair the muggle-borns with some wizarding families! And as for the 'havoc' idea.. just put a few spells around the school and everything will be fine. We need this conference for the communities to see for themselves how much progress is being made." He glanced around at the six wizards and witches. "End of story and conversation. The Parent-Teacher Conference will be rolling on. Now that we are done with this freak show, I have to be on my way. Good day." He sneered and put on a hat then stormed out of the office.  
Aislynn stared after him and glared then looked to Dumbledore. Remus straightened out his robes and blinked slowly.  
He looked at her gravely and sat down carefully, "it seems... that our hands are tied. We will proceed with the conference for the sake of the wishes from the parents."  
"You can't be seriously considering this! We're very unprepared if anything should happen, sir.. It's hard to pull up some spells and jinxes in just under a week." Rhiane sputtered and unknitted her eyebrows to glance at Severus who was in a futher corner, listening. Minerva heaved out a great sigh and leaned on her cane lightly. It seemed as though they had given up on the idea of fighting it.  
"This is so bogus. I hate this..." Aislynn growled and leaned against the wall.  
"Quit sulking, Stellar. All you have to do is talk to a few parents and keep alert." Severus didn't even look up from his patch of floor that he was burning a hole through with his eyes.  
"Come, now, Severus... we're all a little upset, we all will just have to suck it up and make the best of it with the little time we have to prepare." Minerva thought deeply for a moment and nodded, taking her leave probably to go curse in private. Rhiane left shortly after her, followed by Severus without a word.  
Remus glanced from Dumbledore to Aislynn and sighed. He sat down in a chair behind Dumbledore's desk quietly.  
"Why do you have to bend to his whim, Albus...? I don't understand it." An angry Aislynn gave him a hurt look.  
"You are an Auror, Aislynn, of all people you should understand the thought behind cooperation. It is in this, I shall be sure to gain trust and keep it, defend it, and use it when needed most." He stroked his beard thoughtfully.  
"I may be an Auror but you need to be a little more cautious in a time such as this. What we are about to do is go into the deep end of the salt sea, sharks and gashing wounds. That's a lot of pain, if you know what I mean. There isn't much I can do if you invite the enemy on your territory because of the ancient spells and enchantments you have on Hogwarts."  
"All I am asking of you is to do your very best if a problem does occur. Bogus or not..." He gave a half smile and looked to Remus, "if you please, Aislynn... I would like to speak with Remus in private."  
"Certainly," she smiled a little and winked at Remus then left to wait for him outside with the gargoyle. She may spit at the idea, but it looked as if they were actually going to go ahead and do it... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 


	7. Ticking Clocks 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or some characters mentioned in the Harry Potter books. I'm not as talented as J.K Rowling . However, I do own a few characters mentioned and so they are mine and you can't have 'em. Anyhow... enjoy the story!

Aislynn chewed on her thumbnail lightly, staring at the ground distractedly. It had grown dark all ready and it was almost time for her to make her rounds as the security guard near Gryffindor Tower. A long sigh escaped her and her hand fell back down to her side. She wished she could chain up Fudge for all the muggle borns to protect them from the harsh reality that even in this day and age, there was still discrimination. She leaned her head against the wall, lifting her gaze up to the upper corner of the hall... Someday things would be brighter for the future, but right now she feared that Hogwarts was going to become a war-zone. Lupin placed a hand on her shoulder lightly and smiled at her softly,

"Are you okay?"

Aislynn gasped lightly, snapping back to reality again and brought a hand up to her chest to help catch her breath. "You scared me, you bum!"

"Sorry... I thought I'd scare you even if I didn't do anything but stand here." He laughed and exhaled happily. Aislynn took his arm and began to walk with him slowly down the dark halls, lit only by a few candles here and there. She bit her lower lip and gazed up at him, finally letting her curiousity take hold of her.

"What did Dumbledore say?"

"Hmm? Oh. Nothing really... Just explaining something I had asked him about."

"Oh," She glanced back down to the ground. He looked at her and lifted a brow, "why so quiet all of a sudden? You were madder than a chicken that just got it's feathers plucked in there."

"I just... Wish that things could be different. In more ways than one. I wish that those children wouldn't have to go through what they'll be feeling in a few days time. I mean... even their parents will be feeling it as well. Won't someone else fight it? I know Fudge doesn't have authority over parents so... couldn't we just sign a sort of petition? We'll be putting Hogwarts in serious danger with the Death Eaters in full force."

"Everything will be all right. You are a very skilled witch and can stand up to just about anything. I think with all of the teachers here including Dumbledore that things will remain in hand. Just stay positive and keep up your strength, hm?" He smiled softly at her and pet her hand lightly to reassure her. He kept his eyes on her and blinked slowly, as if figuring something out about her and reading her mind. His smile faded and he began to look old again,

"What else did you wish was different, Ais?"

"Well," she blushed furiously. "I... what I meant was... I wish that we could be different. You and me. Instead of meeting every now and then as people in love and then only chatting as if we're merely friends. I feel as if time is ticking against us... always. We're growing older and older and further and further away of what could have been. I always imagined myself growing old with you but perhaps married and with children... Somedays I regret not taking charge and telling you to marry me." Her voice began to tremble as if she were about to cry. His heart fell to the ground and dragged behind him as they walked. In all honesty, he had felt the same way but it must have been a little tougher for her to cope with the light lovers meetings and nothing concrete to fall back on.

"Ais... my condition--"

"Stop it! Stop acting like you're going to fall apart if something remotely nice happened to you! It's not a condition, Remus! It's who you are no matter what you do. You can't stop it and you can't control it! Why do you think I would care about that? I don't understand it. I love you no matter what. I'm not trying to change you! I just want to be with you! Please! I can't stay forever... wondering if we can ever really be and love how we want." Now her whole body was shaking with her voice while tears brimmed her eyes. He always managed to make her cry... he thought. He straightened up quickly. The mental slap that she had given him had made him feel slightly insecure.

He stepped away from her, watched her hand fall to her side and fell back into a shell he had long since forgotten. She watched him grow cold... only seeing it once before in her life and it frightened her terribly to see that look on his face again. It seemed she had pushed him too far and too hard.

"Well then... I guess that's that. Good night." He turned on his heel and walked away from her briskly, leaving her in the darkened hallways. Aislynn stood there, watching after him with a stunned look on her face... a tear streaked down her face and she couldn't be sure but she had a gut feeling that she had just lost the love of her life.

Aislynn awoke the next morning, dreading the day that was coming for her. Everyone seemed to be falling apart on her lately. Remus, Rhiane, Harry, her clock... Even Dumbledore was folding. She got dressed in her most professional robes and braided her long hair, pinned it up and brushed her teeth before going to the mess hall to eat. The enchanted ceiling was gloomy with hard rain falling down that only disapated into nothing midway down... outside the windows, however, rain bands clung to the bars and fell down to the ground. Aislynn sat down next to Snape with a knot in her stomach and her heart in her throat. She took a few bites out of her toast and bacon before deciding that was more than enough.

"Not to worry, Stellar..." Snape spoke quietly. Amazingly enough there was no vendictiveness in his voice at all.

"I'm trying very hard not to." She looked at him for a second and moved her eyes back down to the table. His civility made her feel a little better but the knot was still tight as ever and she thought she might vomit in her cup at any given moment. "I have to go and get my parchments ready for the parents to see... good day, Snape." She got up and pat his shoulder once and was on her way to her classroom. Although she wished to look at Lupin, she couldn't quite gather the courage and she knew that Rhiane wasn't there to comfort her... not that she would ask in her fragile state, poor girl. Aislynn at least had the comfort that Lupin was alive.

A heavy sigh was heaved and she closed the door to her classroom. There were very few times where she felt like running away but today was definately one of them. She took out a few books from her desk and figured out what percentages were for her students, the class overall and the curves involved. Noon rolled around very slowly, she had managed to bite through a few pencils and de-feather some of her writing feathers.. leaving only the very tips of them with their dignity. She opened her door and waited very quietly for parents and students alike to come. To her dismay, Draco Malfoy came in with his esteemed father, looking cocky as ever.

"Ms. Aislynn Stellar... How are you today, Professor? Well, I expect." Malfoy senior spoke, rolling her name off his tongue with pleasure. She winced only slightly and stood up, forcing a smile on her face.

"Mr. Malfoy," she said his name through her teeth. "I'm well, thank you, yes. You look well yourself."

"Indeed... So, I hear your classes seem to be staying afloat. How wonderful."

"Yes, fortunately they found a subject I could teach without conjuring up any ripples with the parents... I'm mainly here for security purposes, actually." She grinned, baring her pearly whites dangerously at him. He cleared his throat and brought his cane closer to his side.

"Draco is doing very well despite his earlier attempts to wiggle out of the class. Let me pull out his grade average for you..." She gave a flick of her wand and grabbed the parchment from where she materialized it. "Right now he's at about eighty-two percent which would be a 'B'." She snickered mentally, the 'b' is for bastard-like attitude. "His attitude in classes are somewhat good.. he has his days like any other person, I guess but a little more effort and he could be making that 'A', no problem."

Lucius seemed mildly intrested in how his son was doing in her class and waved Draco off suddenly. Draco automatically went to go wait in the halls with his friends, naturally.

"Aislynn... it's been ages," he spoke quietly.

"Well yes." She blinked and laughed a little, forgetting his predisposition as a Death Eater and for a moment she saw him only as a man. "You're doing well for yourself, Lucius. You always excelled at what you put your mind to." It felt good to let go for just a while... simply talk...

"The only thing I didn't get in life happened to be you, Aislynn." His leather-gloved hand slipped over hers and she let the parchment slip from her hand. Whether it was her weakened state or his enchanting and charming voice... she didn't know. But he had leaned over the desk and kissed her. Forcefully. Passionately. Like a man that had just crossed a desert and had his first sip of wine but he needed the whole bottle to quinch his undying thirst. She blinked with wide eyes. To her it felt like an ice cube touching her lips on a hot summers day... shocking and intense. Images flashed before her mind.

Horrible images. People screaming and crying in pain, dark shadowy figures, a river of blood flowing and her body falling forever.

His hand let go of his cane and reached around to her head to pull her even closer. She closed her eyes tightly and furrowed her brows, pushing him away with a jerk. He looked at her for only half a second before her hand cocked back and she slapped him with all her might. She was pale and panting, thin eyebrows furrowed and eyes wide... frightened and at the same time angry. He looked up slowly through his platinum blond hair and chuckled quietly.

"That's what I love about you... Whether you like it or not, my dear, I will have you."

She panted and looked at him through angry tears, "how's your wife, Lucius? Send her my highest regards, will you?"

He stared at her with ice blue eyes and smiled at her even more icily. The turned on his heels, grabbed his cane and left. The last thing she saw was his arrogant cape. She collapsed in her chair and swiped at her tears. It felt that she had just been violated so violently... it was just a kiss but... the mental images it had left her with...

"Aislynn Ingrid Stellar!" A happy voice called out to her followed by several different footsteps. They stopped when they saw her, she guessed.

"Are you all right, love?" Molly Weasley came up and touched her arm softly. Aislynn looked up and smiled brightly even though her face was flushed.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry. I was just remembering a sad book I was reading." She stood up and embraced Molly fondly. "You look beautiful. The years have been very kind to you and I mean that with all my heart, Molly." She smiled sincerely.

"Oh, you. Go on, then..." Molly laughed heartily.

"All of your loved ones have been doing very well. My star student is Hermoine, however." She smiled at all three of her favorite group. She materialized their parchements for their averages. "I think that they all have excellent attention spans and keep up with my sparatic lessons very well." Aislynn laughed a little and continued on. "Hermoine has an 'A' and set a curve for the whole class so in retrospect Harry and Ron are really into the game. I'm very proud of them and if they keep it up, they'll have no problems for the finals." She smiled brightly and nodded. "Come see me after you're done with their classes and we'll have a cup of tea?"

Molly nodded and smiled, herding the three out of the classroom.

Aislynn sat back down and smiled a little. Molly could always be counted on to brighten anyone's day... her motherly instinct to make bad thoughts and feelings go away never failed... it's a skill she possessed since childhood. A small yawn escaped her and the lights flickered...

For a second she thought it was just her mind playing games with her from the yawn...

They flickered again and finally everything went black. Aislynn's heart skipped a few beats and her eyes closed slowly... "Oh crap." Her hand went for her wand and she opened her eyes. A flash of lightning cracked through the sky outside and the rain fell even harder, the pelting sound became even more apparent. The storm had grown angrier.

Another crack of lightning sizzled by her window and brightened her classroom enough to see three robed and hooded figures, staring at her. Her senses went berzerk and a loud clap of thunder rolled out, shaking the land. She couldn't tell, though... her heart was beating too hard to pump adrinaline to her veins.

"Looks like a fun poker party... But I don't play with cheaters," she blinked slowly and kept her breathing calm.

"You're only lucky you're a pure-blood, Stellar... We'll only hurt you a lot, which is saving grace compared to some of the things we could do to you." Someone hissed out from the darkness.

"Shove it where the sun don't shine, crap-for-brains." She spat in their direction. "CIANGAIL! TREISIGH!" Ropes shot out from her wand and tied around two of the Death Eaters, reinforcing with a stronger bond with her second incantation spoken. It would only hold them for about three minutes but it was enough to grapple with the third Death Eater.

"Bitch! That's not any spell I've heard of!"

"That's because it's in Gaelic, moron. As an Auror, I'm granted my ancestor's language as well as Latin for speaking and performing spells."

"AVERA KADAVERA!" The third screamed and shot at her. Aislynn managed to duck under her desk but she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing straight up just from the sheer closeness of the last spell. Brick peices flew out from where the spell had hit full force. What happened to merely hurting her a lot? She stood up suddenly and grit her teeth... enough of this nonsense.

"TABHAIR!" She hoped with all the luck in her heart that she had aimed correctly for the wand the third one was carrying. She opened her hand and waited only a second before it came flying to her palm. A smile crossed her face.

"Well, well, well... Looks like this bitch has the upper hand. Three against one isn't all that fair now, is it?" Her heart beat hard and she thought it might burst through her chest. "PAIRILIS!" She flicked her wand and watched the sparks fly from the end of it to her opponet, paralyzing them. It would work for ten minutes... She performed the same spell on the other two to hold them for a bit longer until Dumbledore came to aid her.. She took their wands away and shut the door behind her, welding it shut with her wand. Sweat beaded on her forehead when she looked out into the halls. She could hear screaming now that she could concentrate on other things besides losing her own life. Her main concern was finding all of her loved ones right now. Sparks were flying left and right... her preminition had come true. It was a war-zone in the safest place she had known. Dumbledore's voice boomed and echoed throughout the walls of the halls... he was heavy into battle right now. Probably with Voldermort, she winced.

"Rhiane! Remus!?" She screamed. "Molly! Harry! Anyone!!"

"They won't find you, Aislynn..." A familiar voice called out above the panic. "They're all a bit... busy.. at the moment."

"Lucius," she looked around to him. He was standing in his Death Eater robes, cane still in hand. "What have you done?"

"I've done what is absolutely necissary to keep our world sanitary. Our world is saturated with the filth of muggle-borns. And now... the time has come to rid them of their misery." He grinned from under his robes and another flash of lightning made his teeth glisten.

"My God, Lucius! Are you insane?! Your very leader is part muggle!" She tossed the three Death Eater's wands to the floor to show she had done her duties and snapped out her wand threateningly. "Why don't we go and kill him too?" She glared.

"You are on hot water with that blasphimus mouth of yours, my dear..." He lifted his hand up and snapped his fingers. She began to feel dizzy and blinked slowly. What magic was this? Her stomach churned. "Ah yes... you feel that, don't you. Not very pleasant, is it? At this very moment... Harry Potter is being fixed to be sacrificed to make the Dark Lord at his strongest. And then, you'll see it my way, I guarentee it." The dark images from before consumed her every thought now. She closed her eyes tightly and shook her head, trying to break free from it's horrid hold.

She screamed and brought her hands to her head, gripping her hair. Her brain felt like it was leaking from her ears. Aislynn did the only thing left she could think to do... she ran away from Lucius. She ran with all her might to try and find her friends lost in the sea of panic-stricken people.

"Harry! God, please... no!" She stumbled to the mess hall where a huge battle was being fought by Death Eaters, wizards, witches and Dumbledore and Voldermort. Harry was barricaded in by people, including Snape, Lupin, Westwaters and Mrs. Weasley. Her heart ached... where was Hermoine? She ran into the fight, dodging and ducking the dangerous crossfire despite her extreme nausea and images that kept flashing infront of her eyes.

"Where's Hermoine and Ron?!" She yelled. Molly looked at her with frightened eyes and ducked for a moment, "he's out running with her... trying to get away and stay safe." Aislynn wished she could have stopped everything to comfort her but she raised her wand and began her work to try and stop the Death Eaters.

Dumbledore was very agile and quick when he wanted to be, he had dodged behind pretty much everything he could to manuver out of the spells way. There were many screams to be heard throughout the fight that seemed to go on forever. Each blow that came from either Voldermort or Dumbledore's wands another loud clap of thunder rolled out from their very spot. Everyone was fighting hard, putting their all into each spell that was meant to shoot and kill. The problem with incantations and spells is that with everything you say and everything that comes from your wand, it takes more energy from the wizard or witch.

Aislynn was going out fast and in her last few moments she leaned over, covering her mouth only to have blood spill between her fingers. Lucius had poisoned her somehow... She fell to her knees and for a moment, everyone seemed to stop and look as if surprised to see someone go down in flames. It was in this moment that Death Eaters swooped down to try and grab Harry, only Rhiane and Remus stepped forward bravely and they were taken by transportation.

Voldermort sneered and vanished from sight, his followers, taking his hint, left as well. Aislynn blinked in utter disbelief and looked around, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Remus? ... Rhiane?" She looked up at Molly and Severus.

"They... they took them both..." Molly stammered and brought her hands to her face to weep quietly. Aislynn's eyes went wide and she looked at Harry. All he could do was stand there, stunned and horrified. Her stomach churned another time and she dropped her wand to bring both her hands to her mouth to try and stop it... the metal taste of blood filled her mouth and it leaked through her fingers again... How long would it take for her to die and join her friends finally? Dumbledore walked up, relieved to find that Harry was safe but distressed that Voldermort had taken two more hostage... and Aislynn on the brink of darkness. He was right...

A few violent and intense flashes of the horror movie-like moments went through her mind. A wave of blood spilled through her mouth and she fell forward, falling forever.

Finally, I've updated! Be proud and please gimmie so R&R!!


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